Emily Holiday, owner of Michigan Refillery, poses with bulk refillable containers for multipurpose cleaner, laundry detergent and soap in her garden in Ypsilanti on Wednesday, June 15, 2022.Jacob Hamilton | The Ann Arbor News

YPSILANTI, MI -- If you like the idea of using reusable containers to buy cleaning products, but don’t have the time to go to a bulk store, Emily Holiday has the solution for you.

Holiday, a Michigan native and long-time resident of Ypsilanti, recently launched Michigan Refillery, a fill-your-own-container store that delivers. Customers put their containers — which can be “spaghetti jars, old laundry jugs, olive jars, whatever,” Holiday said — and Michigan Refillery will come by and fill them with the desired products.

The store offers a variety of cleaning products, including counter cleaner, laundry detergent, hand soap and dishwashing liquid. Although many of the offerings are Michigan-made, the shop also offers products like Dawn dish soap.

“We wanted to have that wide range of products because we want this to be something that’s inclusive for as many people as possible,” Holiday said.

Holiday, who likens herself to a “modern-day milkman,” currently refills customers’ containers from five-gallon jugs, which each divert between 10 to 25 single-use plastic containers from the landfill. The Michigan Refillery sources its products from Fresh Coast Clean, which take back their containers to refill them for a closed-loop system.

Holiday hopes her business will help open up sustainable options to those who cannot afford the artisan goods or higher prices typically associated with eco-friendly stores.

“There’s not a lot of options for people who don’t have a huge expendable income to be able to shop at a co-op without plastic waste or do all the kind of specialty thing,” Holiday said, adding that it is “only a few cents more expensive” to refill, even for brands like Dawn.

Michigan Refillery currently offers delivery on Tuesdays and Thursdays, serving a 20-mile radius that covers most of Washtenaw County. Holiday hopes to eventually expand both her delivery range and days as the business grows. She also has plans to eventually offer other products, such as dried goods.

“It’s just something I believe in and it’s something I want to spread to everybody else if possible,” Holiday said.

Find the Michigan Refillery online or on social media.

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